Court lets Rana talk to kin on getting new counsel

NEW DELHI: Delhi's Patiala House court Thursday allowed 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks plotter Tahawwur Rana to have a phone conversation with his family for the limited purpose of discussing the engagement of a new legal aid counsel.

At present, advocate Piyush Sachdeva from Delhi Legal Services Authority is Rana's legal counsel. The Pakistan-born Canadian moved court after Tihar Jail authorities rejected his application to talk to his family over the phone.

Rana is allegedly a close aide of David Coleman Headley , alias Daood Gilani, a US citizen and the main conspirator in the attacks that killed 166.

On July 15, the court allowed Rana's plea seeking directions to jail authorities to provide him with a bed and a mattress. Authorities had opposed the plea, reasoning that inmates aged 65 or older could be given a bed under the jail manual. Rana is 64. On July 9, after NIA filed a supplementary chargesheet, the court extended Rana's judicial custody until Aug 13. Rana was brought to India after the US Supreme Court dismissed his review plea against extradition on April 4. tnn